Developers Present Luxury 'Woodward Grand' Concept for I-696/Main Street Parcel

West Bloomfield-based Singh Development LLC will present an initial concept for a multi-unit residential complex at the vacant Interstate 696 and Main Street site to the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) when it meets at 4 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.

Plans for the development, referred to as Woodward Grand Luxury Apartments and Lofts, show a four-story building with 205 units, including 19 ground-floor townhouses. Apartment units on levels two through four include a combination of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments.

Conceptual drawings also show a clubhouse, fitness area, learning center, covered parking area and a courtyard with a swimming pool.

Singh's portfolio includes the 82-unit Waltonwoods Royal Oak assisted living facility located at 3450 W. 13 Mile Road, which was built in 1998 and renovated in 2012.

JDavis Architects of Raleigh, NC is the designer for the the project. The architectural firm has designed similar housing projects in North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia. Click here to see samples of the firm's work.

More about the site

• In December, Versa Development, CG Emerson Real Estate Group and Farran Group presented a concept it called The Gateway for the same site that included a 160-unit apartment building (up to seven levels), a 4-story medical/office building and a retail area. 
• When the DDA meets this week, it will also review a request from the Detroit Zoo to renew its licensing agreement to use the vacant parcel for the purposes of overflow parking. According to the agreement, the Zoo pays a lump sum of $500 in consideration for each day it uses the 4.15-acre property.
• The DDA took steps in February 2012 to sell the parcel for a proposed 97,000 square-foot pediatric specialty center for the Detroit Medical Center. A year later Andrea Taylor, DMC press secretary, said the site did not have a big enough footprint and the health care provider was looking at other locations.
• The site is currently used as a dumping ground for snow hauled in from the Central Business District. (Yes, there's a backup plan if that property should ever be developed, according to Greg Rassel, director of the Department of Public Service.)